Your Child Speech Delay: The 'R' Sound

The 'r' sound is a very dominate sound in speech, yet often mispronounced. Duplicating the sound is hard for young voices because of the position of the tongue and because the sound comes from the back of the throat. Practice is very beneficial in preventing bad habits in articulation and help when speech intervention is needed.

Many children develop a problem with the pronunciation, not because they have a speech impediment, but because they have a bad habit.

The 'r' sound is one that little voice boxes have to grow into. A child is not considered delayed in the 'r' sound until after the age of 7. But... it has been shown that the proper pronunciation can be much earlier than that.

Using audio bombardment and predictable text in teaching the 'r' sound, Richard and Rosco gives plenty of good emphasis and creates conscious awareness of the sound. And conscious awareness can corrects pronunciation problems before they ever become a problem.

Richard and Rosco is a delightful little story about a rhino named Rosco and a raven named Richard, who are friends.

They love running and resting together in every kind of weather.

For teaching the 'r' sound, the letter 'r' is highlighted throughout the book to make it easier to recognize and read. It is recommended that you emphasize the 'r' sound when reading the book.

When teaching the 'r' to younger children, focus on the 'r' sound at the beginning of the words only. As the age of child gets older, add the ending 'r' sound. Around age 6-7 emphasize the 'r' sound in the middle of words also.

This tactic also helps in developing spelling skills. As your child learns to hear and differentiate sounds throughout words, they learn how to sound words out for reading and spelling purposes.

Through repetitive phrases, predictable text and auditory bombardment, Richard and Rosco becomes a fun and interactive way of teaching the 'r' sound.

Rumblel Rumble Rappity Flap

Oh my goodness! What was that?

Richard and Rosco play in the rain, splash in the river, and chase the rainbow all afternoon. And every time they run off you hear them make the sound...

Rumblel Rumble Rappity Flap

Richard and Rosco is a simple story about friendship and while teaching the 'r' sound.

To help avoid bad habits and speech delays, this little story with it's repetitive phrase and auditory bombardment, is a parents speech therapy resource and a speech therapist dream.

The book includes activity pages and a riddle to encourage language development and thinking skills while having fun.

You can buy Richard and Rosco here if you would like.

Richard and Rosco is also included in Chatter Batter: Four stories for speech development.

Chatter Batter is a compilation of four stories written for preschool through the second or third grade, Each story targets one of four commonly delayed sounds of speech: 'l', 'r', 's', and 'th'. At the end of each story is an activity page for added interest.